Recently while antiquing with my good friend Lora I picked up a piece of transferware and commented on its beauty. Lora loves dishes too, but transferware was not a term she was familiar with.
So what is Transferware?
Last week I posted about white ironstone which you can read about HERE. I mentioned that not all ironstone is white, in fact it can come in every color imaginable mostly in the form of either hand painting or transfer patterns. Transfer patterns are created by etching a design onto copper plates, then inking the plate and copying the pattern onto paper sort of like a lithograph. The thin sheets of paper are placed onto the unglazed ironstone plates and then glazed and fired in the kiln. The designs were usually pastoral countrysides, historic sites or botanicals.
Cobalt Blue was an exceptionally popular color because of the richness and stability of the color upon firing.
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| Staffordshire Liberty Blue |
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| Wedgwood Countryside |
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| classic Blue Willow |
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| Flow Blue |
The English took inspiration from the exotic Orient and incorporated Chinese motifs into their dinnerware.
I recently found this charming covered serving dish with the Blue Willow pattern . I love how it is decorated as beautifully on the inside of the bowl as it is on the outside.
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| Johnson Brothers Covered Wagons |
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| Staffordshire Fair Winds |
As usual, I'm not afraid to mix and match various patterns of transferware!
The English exported countless pieces of transferware to America where it remains sought after by collectors.
Look in your grandmother's china cabinet and you may be lucky to find some. Otherwise come check out my booth at Merchant Square Antiques in Chandler, AZ!
I like to join these parties
I love the deep blue colors... But then I also like the light blue English transferware. These all look so nice.. Even mixed and matched!
ReplyDeleteVery pretty dishes. but I love the red transfer ware. They look good mixed and matched.
ReplyDeleteMary
Your transferware is just gorgeous! Blue and white has always been my favorite color combo, so I especially love your wonderful collection. The blue willow and the flow blue are especially gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteLove blue transferware! I just bought a few today. I have a nice collection...my fave.
ReplyDeleteAll your tranferware dishes are gorgeous. I have some of the Liberty Blue
Hugs,
FABBY